FAO side event "The Drought-Fragility-Finance nexus: Managing drought risk and overcoming conditions of fragility" at the UN 2023 Water Conference

WEDNESDAY 22 MARCH 2023

Time: 15:30 - 16:45 (EST)
Venue: UNHQ, New York, Conference Room 9

 

The event was webcasted via the UN Web TV and it is accessible HERE.

Interpretation is available.

 

Background

 

With over 40 percent of global population living in water-scarce areas, the impacts of climate change on water resources may lead to a potential 6 to 14 percent decline in growth rate in some regions over the next decades. Fragile contexts suffer the harshest consequences, given their featuring combination of exposure to risk and insufficient coping capacities to manage, absorb or mitigate those risks.

Drought is both a significant water risk and a driver of further risks. Drought risk is largely context-specific, cross-sectoral, and extended in time and space. Countries are developing national drought plans to outline roadmaps and guide the transition from reactive to proactive risk management through policy measures designed along the pillars of integrated drought management.

Nevertheless, underfinancing of disaster and drought risks represents a notable barrier to manage those events, and the sheer scale of financing required far exceeds public finance availabilities, even more in fragile contexts. Moreover, the unpredictability of drought events increases considerably the finance risks. 

Drought risk financing has an enormous but untapped potential. To address it, financial commitments should aid the definition and piloting of tailored measures, as well as the dissemination of information and establishment of exchange platforms.

Public sector and international organizations have introduced successful pioneers of financial instruments and produced many successful cases, which substantially reduced the risk profile of drought-stricken communities.

This event brings together global and national actors with experience in drought management and risk financing to share the experience of fragile countries in managing drought risk and present innovative instrument types from global case studies.

Moreover, the event will present a global, collaborative platform for a continued coordination of sustainable drought financing in fragile contexts, proposed as a commitment to the Water Action Agenda.

 

 Objectives

The objectives of this event are:

• to take stock of the financial risks of investment in integrated drought management and propose strategies for managing such risks in fragility-affected areas;
• to build a common understanding and initiate a stronger collaboration to address barriers in fragile contexts and foster enabling effective drought financing mechanisms; and
• to present the new global platform, set to:
  • track the deployed financing for integrated drought management in member countries;
  • provide guidelines for socially and environmentally acceptable financing, conduct country- and context-specific analysis of the business environment;
  • collect business cases for bankable projects; and
  • organize multi-stakeholder dialogues for facilitated private sector inclusion.

 

 Agenda

Moderator: Mr Maher Salman, Senior Land and Water Officer/Team Lead, FAO

15.30 - 15.50	High Level Opening
	Mr Qu Dongyu, Director-General, FAO H.E. Mr Abdelmonem Belaati, Minister of Agriculture, Water resources and Fishing, Tunisia H.E. Mr Modibo Koné, Minister of Environment, Sanitation, and Sustainable Development, Mali H.E. Ms Garama Saratou Rabiou Inoussa, Minister of Environment and Desertification Control, Niger
15.50 - 16.20	Technical session
15.50 - 16.05	Drought financing: the financial landscape for addressing drought risks
	Mr Maher Salman, Senior Land and Water Officer/Team Lead, FAO
16.05 -16.20	Drought financing and rural livelihoods: case studies and lessons learned
	Mr Michael Dunford, Regional Director for Eastern Africa, WFP
16.20 - 16.40	High Level Panel
	Mr Máximo Torero Cullen,  Chief Economist, FAO H.E. Mr Abdelmonem Belaati, Minister of Agriculture, Water resources and Fishing, Tunisia H.E. Mr Modibo Koné, Minister of Environment, Sanitation, and Sustainable Development, Mali H.E. Ms Garama Saratou Rabiou Inoussa, Minister of Environment and Desertification Control, Niger
16.40 - 16.45	Closing remarks by Moderator

 

Ordre du jour

Modérateur: Mr Maher Salman, Senior Land and Water Officer/Team Lead, FAO

15.30 - 15.50	Remarques préliminaires
	Mr Qu Dongyu, Director- Général, FAO S.E. M. Abdelmonem Belaati, Ministre de l’Agriculture, Tunisie S.E. M. Modibo Koné, Ministre de l’Environment, de l'Assainissement et du Développement Durable, Mali S.E. Mme Garama Saratou Rabiou Inoussa, Ministre de l'Environnement et de la Lutte contre la Désertification, Niger
15.50 - 16.20	Session technique
15.50 - 16.05	Financement de la sécheresse : le paysage financier pour faire face aux risques de sécheresse
	M. Maher Salman, Fonctionnaire principal chargé des terres et de l'eau/chef d'équipe, FAO
16.05-16.20	Financement de la sécheresse et moyens de subsistance ruraux : études de cas et leçons apprises
	M. Michael Dunford, Directeur régional pour l'Afrique de l'Est, PAM
16.20 - 16.40	Panel de haut niveau
	M. Máximo Torero Cullen,  Chief Economist, FAO S.E. M. Abdelmonem Belaati, Ministre de l'agriculture, Tunisie S.E. M. Modibo Koné Ministre de l'environnement, de l'assainissement et du développement durable, Mali S.E. Mme Garama Saratou Rabiou Inoussa, Ministre de l'Environnement et de la Lutte contre la Désertification, Niger
16.40 - 16.45	Clôture - Remarques finales par le Modérateur

Webcast